Gifts from Owl to Owl
by Lady-Sephia
Summary: With a only a week until Bokuto's birthday Akaashi must find something for his boyfriend, but when he does will he have enough time to finish it? And will he be able to keep it a secret?


Akaashi was starting to panic though you'd never know by looking at him. Bokuto's birthday, his boyfriend's birthday was on Saturday and it was already Monday. He wasn't even sure how he forgot about it since Bokuto had been going on about it for a couple weeks now, but he did and now he only had a week to find something.

Which is how he now found himself walking around downtown, window-shopping hoping that something would catch his eye, but so far he hadn't had much luck. Looking into the next shop window as he passed, he stopped, eyes going wide. It was a poster of a stuffed Great Horned Owl and according to the dimensions listed it was around 30cm tall! Nothing extravagant but perfect for his owl loving partner. After all, this was the person who, instead of knocking on the front door if he came by, started hooting outside his window to let Akaashi know he was there and wouldn't stop pestering him until he began to do it as well. Saying it was like their own secret language and this way no one could ever try to mimic them.

Entering the store, he quickly scanned the shelves for what he was looking for, only for his heart to sink slightly when he finally found it. It turned out that rather than already being made, the owl was a sewing kit. Sighing he picked up the kit and looked at the back, quickly reading over what was included. It came with complete instructions, stuffing, eyes, the material already cut and the pieces labeled, a needle and the matching coloured thread.

Akaashi stared at the kit, his brow furrowing as he thought, he had never sewn before but the kit seemed simple enough and really he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find something else in time if he passed it up now. Decision made he turned to head up to the cash when a sale display caught his eye, when he saw what it held he couldn't help but chuckle and pick up a couple. They were chocolate molds in shapes of different owls, just like sewing he had never tried making chocolates before but it didn't seem too difficult, just a matter of melting the chocolate and distributing it evenly into the molds before letting it harden. Happy with his decision he paid for his purchases and headed home.

When his alarm went off the next morning at 6:00am Akaashi did not want to get up. After arriving home yesterday, he quickly saw to the homework that he had before taking out the owl kit and getting a start on it. What he thought yesterday about it not likely being too difficult? Completely inaccurate. He had decided to work on one of the wings as they seemed to be the easiest to start with, however, between knotted thread, poking his fingers with the needle, and not getting his stitches to line up properly he didn't get to bed until close to 2am.

'Its only one day, I should be alright.' he thought to himself with a yawn.

Pushing himself up from his bed to get ready for the day, he flinched a little at the unexpected feeling in his fingers. Bringing his hands up he examined them. There was a definite tenderness there but noticeable injury.

'That is going to be annoying.' with a sigh he let his hands fall back to his sides before getting ready for the day. Once he was dressed and had double-checked that he had everything, he headed downstairs where he quickly grabbed something for breakfast before heading out the door to morning practice.

Practice was good, his sets went fine for the most part only missing on occasion when the ball hit his hands particularly hard and caused his fingers to throb and his lack of sleep didn't affect his performance. Bokuto did come up to him afterward though and asked if he was all right, apparently it was quite noticeable that he was tired. He was quick to say that he had just stayed up too late doing homework, after all he couldn't exactly tell him that he was working on his birthday present, it would ruin the surprise.

Heading to class after getting cleaned up and changed, Akaashi found his thoughts wandering to the owl and chocolate molds at home.

'I'll have to go pick up the chocolate today after practice, but I won't be able to make them until Thursday at least.' he thought.

His parents were leaving for a trip on Thursday and wouldn't be back until the following Monday, until then Akaashi's mother was cooking up a storm so he would have enough for meals while they were gone that he would just have to re-heat.

'I wonder what kind of chocolate I should get?' he thought as he maneuvered through the hallways and other students before arriving at his classroom.

'I'll decide when I get there I suppose.' giving his head a small shake he made his way quickly to his seat. Quietly sitting down he took the books that he would need out of his bag. There would be time enough to think about chocolates after school. For now he had classes he needed to focus on.

Morning classes seemed to fly by, and the next thing Akaashi knew it was lunch and Bokuto was making his way into the classroom, oblivious to the stares he was getting. Even with how often this occurred, it seemed that the other students of Akaashi's year were still surprised when the 3rd year came down to their floor

"Hey, hey, hey! Akaashi come eat lunch with me!" Bokuto called excitedly, not even halfway to Akaashi's desk.

"Of course, Bokuto-san." he responded, smiling softly up at his grinning boyfriend as he grabbed his lunch and followed the older boy.

They headed to the roof while the weather was still pleasant enough to eat outside and made themselves comfortable once they got there. They discussed that morning's practice while they ate and what needed improvement, making a list of what they would focus on that afternoon before talk eventually worked it's way around to a new owl documentary that Bokuto had seen the other night, this one all about Great Horned Owls.

When the bell to signal the end of class rang a little while later, both gathered their things and stood up from where they had been sitting, settled comfortably next to each other before heading back to class. They separated at the foot of the stairs, each heading to their classes with a smile and a wave at each other. On his was to his own classroom Akaashi couldn't help smiling while thinking about Bokuto. He knew without a doubt now that his decision about Bokuto's gift was an excellent choice and even if it was difficult to do, the look on Bokuto's face, when he gave it to him, would make it worth it.

The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly, classes were straightforward with no major projects coming up this week and once practice had started things progressed smoothly. The areas that the team was shaky on that morning, were worked on and soon very few errors were being made.

'The lack of throbbing in my fingers is definitely a blessing' Akaashi thought wryly as he set another ball for Bokuto, just to watch it slam to the floor on the other side of the net.

At the end of practice Akaashi and Bokuto made their way to the locker room with the rest of the team after clean up, foregoing their usual spiking practice due to a text Akaashi received from his mother just before practice began asking him to stop by the store to pick up a few ingredients she was missing.

Splitting up at the school gates, Akaashi waved goodbye to Bokuto and the rest of the team before heading in the direction of downtown to pick up the items for his mother and the chocolate he needed for Bokuto's gift.

'Dark chocolate I think,' he thought with a small smile on his lips as he continued to walk.

That night, after he had tucked the chocolate away safely in the fridge and his homework was done, he once again began to work on the owl, determined to complete the other wing and get a start on the body of it before turning in for the night.

The next few days continued much the same as the first. Akaashi was only managing three to four hours of sleep per night due to morning practices, however unlike the first day band-aids slowly started appearing on his fingers, which, while painful, didn't do much to affect his playing ability. Whenever he was asked about them all he would say is that he was working on something.

'I'm glad I don't have any burns, they'd be a lot harder to explain.' thought Akaashi on Friday morning, after staying up half the night making chocolates. Though easier than putting the stuffed owl together by a long shot, he still managed to burn two batches of chocolate before finally melting it properly and pouring it into the molds to set.

While downplaying the nature and cause of the injuries on his fingers was fairly easy, what Akaashi failed to realize was that it was quickly becoming apparent that he wasn't doing too well. He was growing paler by the day and the circles under his eyes darker. Bokuto, however, was taking notice but knew better than to push his boyfriend for information he didn't offer voluntarily. All he could do was wait and hope there wouldn't be any major consequences.

Saturday, the day of Bokuto's birthday everything came to a head.

'I'm so glad that there's no classes today.' thought Akaashi as he dragged himself to practice. The owl had finally been completed the night before, and the chocolates had been taken out and packaged into a small container.

'I'll give everything to him when he comes over after practice today.' his eyesight went blurry for a moment and he had to stop before he continued.

'After a nap though I think.' A nap sounded really good actually. He was so tired today, which wasn't surprising since he was working on a deficit of sleep all week, but his body also felt unusually heavy today as well.

Practice was lively, almost as if it were a birthday party rather than volleyball practice. Bokuto was in his glory, accepting all the birthday wishes, cards, and small gifts happily, but if anyone looked close enough they would've seen the worry in his eyes. Akaashi was almost listless as practice went on, it was easy to see he was not in top form, and between that and the worry that Bokuto was carrying for his boyfriend there wasn't much progress to be made that day. Due to the lack or productivity it was decided that they would call it a day, they cleaned up quickly before heading to the locker room to change.

Once Bokuto was finished changing, he called out for Keiji so they could head back to his place. He wanted to get him into bed so he could rest, besides a nap meant cuddling, which was always nice.

"Hey, Keiji! Ready to... go?" he looked around, confused at where his boyfriend was, as it seemed that he had completely disappeared. Not noticing him as he looked around, he did the one thing he knew Akaashi would respond to.

He hooted.

Listening carefully, after he was finished he just barely caught the very quiet "hoot" coming from a darkened corner of the room. Heading in that direction, he hooted a couple more times, each time getting a quiet hoot in response. Reaching the corner, Bokuto looked down into the sleepy eyes of one half asleep Akaashi Keiji, who gave a couple little hoots when Bokuto reached him.

Bending down Bokuto carefully picked up the smaller boy, hooting quietly at him as he fell back asleep as he settled him into a princess style hold. He only grew more worried when he realized that Akaashi was quite warm, but he was hoping it was due to practice. Looking him over, he took in what he was wearing and it was no wonder they lost sight of him. He was dressed all in dark colours and with his dark hair and pale face originally tucked between his knees, he blended right in.

Turning around with the other boy comfortably in his arms, Bokuto flushed to the roots of his hair when he saw the team grinning at him and realized they had witnessed the hooting.

"You guys can't say ANYTHING to Keiji about the hooting thing!" he said, sounding slightly panicked. If Keiji found out that the team knew about the hooting thing then Bokuto would be a dead man, and he rather liked being alive, thank you very much.

Still snickering slightly, they all promised not to say a word, they did rather like their captain after all, and no one wanted to risk Akaashi potentially turning his wrath on them in embarrassment. Content with that, Bokuto headed out with Akaashi in his arms.

Akaashi woke feeling horrible, his head felt like lead and he could barely keep his eyes open. He curled closer to the warmth that he seemed to be enveloped in, wanting to go back to sleep until he realized that he was in someone's arms and that someone was calling his name.

"Keiji, are you awake?" Bokuto asked.

"Kōtarō? Why am I being carried? And where are we?" he asked while blearily looking around.

He felt Bokuto shift and soon enough his feet were on the ground, as the fog cleared a bit from his head he realized that they were at his house.

"We're at your place, do you have your keys?" he asked, holding on to Akaashi's shoulders as he began digging around in his bag.

"Yea," he muttered. "Here they are."

Pulling the keys from his bag, he quickly unlocked the door and led them both inside the house. Hanging his keys on the little hook by the door, he dropped his bag and took off his shoes and jacket, seeing Bokuto do the same before the older boy came up and gently wrapped his arms around him.

"Why don't you head upstairs and crawl into bed?" he asked.

"You don't mind? It's your birthday today."

Bokuto just smiled and shook his head.

"Of course not! A nap sounds like a great idea, followed by a movie when we wake up I think!" he said happily, "Besides, why would I pass up the chance to cuddle with my gorgeous boyfriend?" he added, with a flirty smirk and wink.

Akaashi smiled softly and nodded. Turning towards the stairs he started making his way to his room when he looked back at Bokuto and noticed he wasn't following.

"Aren't you coming with me Kōtarō?" he asked with a small frown.

"Yup! But I'm going to grab us a couple glasses of water first," he smiled at Akaashi before turning towards the kitchen.

Akaashi smiled and turned back towards the stairs.

'Kōtarō really is so thoughtful, I really hope he likes the chocolates...' at that thought his eyes widened. 'The chocolates! I completely forgot about them!'

"Kou-…!" he had started to call out his name as he spun around, but only managed the first little bit before his vision went dark and he collapsed to the floor.

"Keiji?" Bokuto called curiously as he made his was out of the kitchen. He could've sworn he heard the other boy call for him. Looking around once he reached the hall, his eyes widened at the sight that met him. There, crumpled at the foot of the stairs looking much like a puppet with its strings cut, lay Akaashi.

"Holy shit! Keiji!" Bokuto called out in a panic as he ran over to him.

Dropping to his knees beside him, he gently lifted Akaashi's head to rest on his lap as he looked him over. He was paler than before, and there was a light sheen of sweat noticeable on his face. His breathing also seemed slightly ragged which was enough for Bokuto to whip out his phone and make a phone call. Bringing the phone to his ear he waited for the click to let him know that the person on the other end had picked up.

"He-…" the person on the other end started to say before Bokuto completely cut him off.

"KUROO! YougottahelpmeI'matAkaashi'splaceandhejustcollapsedandIdon'tknowwhattodo!" he said all in a rush, barely taking a breath until he was done.

"... Okay, I caught Akaashi, home and collapse out of that. Try again and breathe this time." came Kuroo's voice from the other end of the line.

Taking a deep breath, Bokuto proceeded to repeat what he had said though this time slower so it would actually be understandable.

"You gotta help me bro! I'm at Akaashi's place and he just collapsed. I don't know what to do!" he said worriedly, looking down at the pale boy on his lap.

"Damn bro, I would help but I don't have a clue when it comes to caring for sick people. Yaku's not here either so I can't ask him."

"Dammit! What am I supposed to do?!"

"I got it! Call Sawamura, you remember him from the training camp right?"

"Karasuno's captain, right? The one with the little dude with the awesome jump?"

"That's the one! Give him a call, I'm sure he'll know what to do."

"Alright, thanks, man. What's his number?"

After getting the number and saying goodbye to Kuroo, Bokuto took another deep breath to help keep him calm. Sawamura would be able to help, at least Kuroo thought so and he knew him better then Bokuto did. Dialing the number that Kuroo had given him, he once again placed the phone to his ear, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

"For the love of... Kuroo if this is you again I swear I'm going to..." came the grouchy voice from the other end.

"Uhhh, this isn't Kuroo actually," Bokuto said, cutting the voice off "It's Bokuto. Fukurōdani's captain from the training camp this summer." he wondered what the hell Kuroo did to get that kind of response from a seemingly cool captain.

"Oh! Bokuto." Sawamura's mood did a complete one-eighty at that information.

"Sorry, I thought you were Kuroo calling to annoy me again. What can I do for you?"

Hearing Akaashi groan quietly, Bokuto gently started running his fingers through his hair, calming him down with the gentle touch.

"I need some advice, I'm at Akaashi's house and he collapsed on me. I don't know what to do!" he said, beginning to panic once again.

"Akaashi? As in your vice-captain? I'm afraid I don't know much about caring for someone who has passed out..." he trailed off, almost as if he were thinking of something.

"Damn, thanks anyway though. I'm sure I'll think of something," he sighed, getting ready to end the call.

"Just a minute! Suga will be able to help, I just need to wait for him to get back is all."

"Suga? Oh! Your vice-captain? The pretty one that got along well with Akaashi?" he asked.

"Yea, that's him." Bokuto could almost hear the smile in his voice.

"Awesome, it'll be great if he can help."

"He will, ah there he is. Suga, phone call for you!"

Bokuto heard the sound of murmured conversation in the background before the phone was handed off and the voice of Suga came down the line.

"Bokuto? It's Suga, would you be able to tell me what happened?"

Bokuto agreed and quickly went through everything that had happened that day... leaving out the hooting part in the locker room of course.

"Ah, it sounds like exhaustion mixed with a bit of a fever," Suga said at the end of it.

"Okay, but what do I do?!"

"He just needs some rest. Put him in bed and when he wakes up give him something for the fever. Though until then you can use a cool cloth on his forehead to try to bring it down some."

At Suga's directions, Bokuto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you! Next time you guys are in Tokyo give me and Akaashi a shout, we'll show you around!"

"You're welcome," Suga chuckled "We will let you know next time we're in your area again. I would like to see Akaashi again. We had some good conversations. And I'm sure Daichi could use a break from Kuroo." he said wryly.

"Haha, fair enough. Thanks again!"

"Anytime, if you need anything else feel free to call again."

Ending the call, Bokuto looked softly down at Akaashi, much calmer than before.

"What am I going to do with you?" he said softly while adjusting him so he would be able to carry him upstairs to bed.

'What was so important that you worked yourself to exhaustion I wonder.' he thought to himself as he carried Akaashi up the stairs.

Reaching his room, he gently pushed open the door and walked over to the bed. Juggling him a little to free a hand, he pulled the covers back and slid the smaller boy onto the bed before pulling the covers back over and tucking him in. Looking around the tidy room he spied a new stuffed owl sitting on his desk, it looked to be handmade and really well done as well.

Grabbing the owl, he tucked it in beside Akaashi before heading to the bathroom to get the cold cloth like Suga told him too. When he came back, he had the cloth in one hand and some medicine in the other. He was thankful that the Akaashi's kept some on hand, setting the pills down on the bedside table he gently laid the cloth across Akaashi's forehead, immediately noticing how he relaxed under it.

Smiling at the look of relief on Akaashi's face, he quietly headed back downstairs. He was going to sit and stay with him until he woke up, but first he wanted to get that glass of water and maybe see if he could find a snack as well.

Akaashi woke up shortly after Bokuto had left, disoriented and confused as to how he ended up in his room. The last thing he remembered was yelling for Kōtarō when he realized that the chocolates were still on the counter and he didn't want him to see them yet. When he turned his head to look over at the desk he noticed the owl was no longer there causing him to sit up much too quickly. He felt something fall on his lap and once the dizziness had passed looked down to find a cloth there, reaching up he felt the dampness on his forehead letting him know that, that had been where it was a few moments before.

It was at that moment that Bokuto came back, carrying a tray with two glasses of water and a suspiciously familiar looking container.

"Keiji! You're awake, man Suga's advice worked great!" he said with a grin. However, it soon slipped off his face, as he noticed that his boyfriend was still not looking too good. In fact, he looked almost scared of something.

"Kōtarō, where did you get that container?" Akaashi asked in a shaky voice, "And what advice from Suga-san are you talking about?"

"Huh? Well the container I found on the counter in the kitchen, they're chocolates in the shape of owls!" he looked so awed at that, that Akaashi calmed down slightly. Although, he was still kind of sad he hadn't been able to give them to him himself.

"Alright, and the advice from Suga-san?" he was really confused about that. As far as he knew Bokuto didn't even have the number to any of the Karasuno players.

"Oh! You collapsed to the floor earlier and I was panicking. I called Kuroo, who gave me Sawamura's number who then passed me over to Suga. When I told him what happened he said it sounded like you overworked yourself and developed a fever on top of it. He told me to put you to bed to rest and to give you something for the fever when you woke up. Oh right! The medicine!"

Setting down the tray on Akaashi's lap he reached over to grab the pills where he had set them earlier, when he turned around however Akaashi had his head buried in his hands, and it sounded like he was sniffling slightly. Concerned he set the medicine back down and moved the tray over to Akaashi's desk before sitting beside him on the bed.

"Keiji? Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked while gently trying to pull Akaashi's hands away from his face.

"I wanted to do something nice for your birthday, but instead you're stuck looking after me. You even had to call Suga-san," he mumbled, dropping his hands and letting Bokuto take them in both of his, "I'm sorry Kōtarō."

"Nothing to be sorry for! I don't mind, I was thinking we'd just have a movie night anyway. But what did you have planned? I'm sure we can still do it!"

Letting out a watery chuckle, Akaashi shook his head slightly.

"A movie night was all I really had planned actually, and I was going to surprise you with your gifts but you've already found one of them, and the other seems to be missing," at the thought of the owl that he had spent so much time on disappearing his eyes once again started to water. How could he have lost it?

"I already found one?" he asked confused "What one did I..." he cut himself off as his eyes went wide, looking over at the container of chocolates then back to Akaashi who was now starting to blush slightly under his gaze.

"You made me _owl shaped chocolate... Keiji_, you're the BEST!" he yelled, pulling the smaller boy into a tight hug, "What was the other gift? Can you tell me? Please, please, please, I wanna know!"

Though still sad that his plan didn't work out exactly the way he wanted it too, Akaashi couldn't help smiling in the face of Bokuto's enthusiasm.

"It was a Great Horned Owl plush, about 30cm tall…" he blushed before pushing on "I... actually I made it for you, it was a sewing kit that I found at a store." he grimaced slightly at that part "I never realized that sewing could be so difficult, even so I finished it but now I'm not sure where it went."

Bokuto was still grinning, and Akaashi gave him a strange look. After all, it's not very often one would smile after being told that their gift had been lost.

"Kōtarō, what are you smiling about?"

"Nothing! I do have a question for you though. That owl, I don't suppose it's that one there is it?" he said while pointing to the stuffed owl that he had tucked in with Akaashi originally.

Akaashi looked to where he was pointing and promptly felt his face burst into flame. Pouting slightly at his boyfriend, he proceeded to pick up the plush and then promptly laid down with it wrapped in his arms with his back to Bokuto.

"Just for that maybe I'll keep him instead," he teased.

"No way! He is so cool, besides it's still my birthday, can't I have him? _Please Keiji_." he pleaded, even breaking out the owl eyes

Akaashi chuckled slightly as he rolled back over onto his back and sat up again before sobering.

"Of course you can have him," he said while passing the owl over and accepting the pills and water that Bokuto handed him in return. Quickly downing the medicine and water, Akaashi laid back down again. With the excitement finally over he was starting to feel just how miserable he was again. Bokuto was quick to notice and gently combed his fingers through his hair, getting a pleased little sound from the other in return.

"Do you want to go back to sleep for a bit?" he asked quietly, watching the dark haired boy fight to keep his eyes open.

"Just a little while," he said sleepily, "I'm sorry for ruining your birthday Kōtarō."

"You didn't ruin it, don't be so silly Keiji. You made me owl chocolates and worked yourself way too hard to make me a stuffed owl. It's my birthday so I can do what I want really, and I really wanna look after you! You always take care of me after all. Now scoot over because right now I want to take a nap with my gorgeous boyfriend."

Smiling at the other, Akaashi shifted in his bed until there was enough room for Bokuto to crawl in. He sighed happily as he soon found himself wrapped up in Bokuto's arms. Wrapping his own arms around the other in return and laying his head on his chest he was soon making his way towards sleep.

"Hey, Keiji?" Bokuto called softly.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for the awesome birthday presents. I love you," he said while placing a gentle kiss on the top of his head.

"You're welcome," he murmured, placing a kiss of his own over Bokuto's clothed heart.

"I love you too. Happy birthday Kōtarō," he said, just before he fell asleep.


End file.
